Fair warning: I doubt the following rant is very original. I don't claim to be the first person having these complaints.
The first anime I ever saw was Akira. I was about 12, and I was absolutely baffled about what the hell was going on. I know it's supposed to be this seminal work, and criticizing it apparently means there's something wrong with me, because there's clearly nothing wrong with the movie. Apparently. But I came away from it with only one impression: There is something seriously wrong with Japanese people.
Over my teens, I had a few friends who were into anime, and I caught a few episodes of random shows every once in a while. And I was always excited to watch them, because when my friends explained the stories beforehand, they sounded pretty freaking awesome. But then I'd watch them, and a) The stories were WAAAAAY weirder than my friends had told me, and b) The stories that my friends exlained to me in two minutes? Yeah, apparently they required in excess of twenty hours to tell. So yes, A fights B and it's really awesome, but they fight each other over the course of eight episodes of a show, during which they throw maybe 15 punches. And the rest is composed of staring, thoughts, flashbacks, analysis, and lots of stern talking-tos.
I just... I don't get it. The basic stories they're telling are fantastic, but they're being told SO. FREAKING. POORLY. They take WAY too long to get even the simplest things done. Sure, I was excited to see A and B fight, but that was in episode 2 of their showdown. By episode six, I'm literally shouting at the screen, "STOP ALL THE [MOD EDIT]darned[/MOD EDIT] TALKING AND THROW A [MOD EDIT]darned[/MOD EDIT] PUNCH ALREADY!"
I'm watching Naruto right now because I'm REALLY bored and it's all free on YouTube, and it's driving me insane how bad the storytelling is.
1) As mentioned, everything takes too damn long. A two-minute fight has no reason to last ten episodes. There's just no way to justify all the time they're wasting
2) The dramatic toolset they're using is getting pretty tired. And by toolset, I of course mean tool, singular. All of the drama in this show—ALL OF IT—is generated by having something happen, and then having people act ABSOLUTELY, UNBELIEVABLY SHOCKED that it happened. A throws a punch, B dodges it. "What?! He dodged it?!" Um... yes. He dodged it. In fact, he ALWAYS dodges it. YOU'RE FREAKING NINJAS. YOU DODGE EVERYTHING. WHY IS THIS SHOCKING TO YOU EVERY SINGLE TIME?!
3) People accuse American film and TV of being cheesy and formulaic, but Death Killerz XII can't hold a candle to this thing. Hey, let's see if I can predict the next 200 episodes of the show!
-Villain appears, explains his ENTIRE plan and the minutiae of ALL of his powers to the heroes, waits half a season, then fights them. Fight is... inconclusive. Villain slinks off, to return... some day.
-Every fight featuring the male leads will consist of: Hmm, he looks tough! In head: It will take all my power to defeat him! Out loud: You stand no chance of defeating me! Fight ensues. Opponent pulls out ridiculous unfair advantage, kicks male lead's [MOD EDIT]buttocks[/MOD EDIT]. EPISODE CUT. Start of next episode, opponent hits male lead one more time, which apparently reminds main hero: "Oh wait! I forgot! I'm a ridiculous uber munchkin!", male lead proceeds to win for no apparent reason. Rinse, repeat.
-Female characters continue to be paperweights. [ I've been counting... in 52 episodes, Sakura has done 5 things that can be considered to have been productive: throw dagger, throw dagger to catch male lead from falling, throw shuriken, fight Ino (part one, before 30 minute block of flashbacks, duration: ten seconds), fight Ino (part two, after 30 minute block of flashbacks, duration: 20 seconds). ]
-Male leads continue to learn new super powers at a glacial pace, despite the fact that, from what they've told us so far, learning a new move is as difficult as... opening a book.
For anybody who's seen it... did I about cover it?
4) I took an animation course once, and the prof loved anime. He made a comment once about how Japanese animation is superior to American animation, because it's fluid, with a higher framerate. I agree with him entirely—it's not hard to have 60 frames per second of animation when you're TRANSLATING STILLS ACROSS THE SCREEN. I would guess that roughly 1/3 of the shots in any episode have NO internal motion of ANY kind. They're either translated/zoomed stills, or just plain full-screen, non-moving still shots.
(Point #4 doesn't actually bother me that much, it's just something I like to point out when people make that really stupid argument.)
So, you ask, why don't I just stop watching and quit my [MOD EDIT]complaining[/MOD EDIT]? Because deep down, there's still a really great story being told. It's interesting, it's fairly original, and it's compelling. And when a guy DOES throw a punch, the animation is fantastic. It's a beautiful show with a compelling plot... I just wish it was available in a format where I can get a whole 25-episode season compressed into about 3 hours. Edit out the recaps (which take 1/3 of some episodes, just to remind viewers what happened last episode), the flashbacks (to remind viewers of things that happened, say, four episodes ago), the interminable stare-offs... basically, just cut out all the BS and let me watch ninjas beat the crap out of each other. I wouldn't even lose any of the story.
I get that it's meant for a different audience. Maybe Japanese kids have the patience for this stuff. I'm not a completely crass North American viewer—I have episodes available to me subbed AND dubbed, and I'm choosing the subs because I'm getting a lot more of the subtle details and such out of them. I'm willing to put in the effort to enjoy the show, but as I said, it's driving me insane to watch the show do the same stupid things over and over and over again.
Is it me? Am I just missing the point?
Am I just watching a particularly awful show?
Sigh. Rant over.
:(
Naruto is just Dragonball redux.
For anime you want to go for the Cowboy Bebops, the Samurai Champloos, the Spirited Aways etc.
The problem with the ones like Naruto is they're practically infinite. They cram tiny amounts of good stuff into every episode. The 24 episode series', the ones that have endings planned out ahead of time, are the ones youn want to go for.
Watch Cowboy Bebop, if that doesn't make you feel better about anime nothing will.
Yeah, Cowboy Bebop was pretty sweet.
In fact, I even like Ghost in the Shell... there's no uber powerfulness, no *gasp, he evaded my attack!"...just lots of yummy storyline, guns, and a great animation style.
The "OMG HE SO STRONG NOT KNOW IF CAN WIN" thing is standard. I'm yet to watch an anime/read a manga where it doesn't appear. It's quite lame, indeed. There's no need to keep reminding us how strong the enemy is; just make it evident on the fighting sequences.
Like Verfall said, you should check Cowboy Bebop. Personally, I didn't like it very much, but most people tend to change their way of viewing animes after watching it. If you think you're the same, give it a go.
Id also add Berserk(fantastic series), Ninja Scroll, Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team and Gungrave to the above recommendations. Stuff like dbz, naruto, etc aint really the best representation of anime.
-I've seen Ghost in the Shell, it was okay. Very pretty, but it didn't shake me to my core or anything.
-Also saw all of Evangelion, which started out as a perfectly serviceable giant robot cartoon and then turned into a colossal philosophical mess at the end. I just felt... deceived.
-Saw the Cowboy Bebop movie (never seen the show), it was a while back and I don't remember much, but I think I liked it. I'll try to track some more of it down. A question though-- is it easier to watch because it's good and the rest sucks, or because it's just more like "our" cartoons and such?
-Saw Spirited Away. Kinda clever, but just way too weird for me.
I've never come away from anything in anime and had that "wow" feeling still on me. It's ranged from utter bafflement, to "It was okay". Even the best ones weren't THAT interesting.
Sigh... I guess I'm just not the target audience. :/
Quote from: gengoro on April 10, 2007, 04:19:39 PM
Id also add Berserk(fantastic series), Ninja Scroll, Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team and Gungrave to the above recommendations. Stuff like dbz, naruto, etc aint really the best representation of anime.
Berserk is really cool. I really like the protagonist. I wish someone made a mesh of him.
The manga is even better than the anime, IMO. It's worth checking it out (I think Image is distributing it on the US).
Edit: Changed "love" to "really like". Yes, I'm moronic as that.
Quote from: captainspud on April 10, 2007, 04:28:41 PMSigh... I guess I'm just not the target audience. :/
What a concept! :P
I think a lot of it is the anime you've seen. Dragon Ball (Z/GT), Naruto, Bleach etc. are all "infinite anime"s as I call them. They're based off mangas (all 3 of which are quite good in that form) but because of their popularity they constantly add fillers, flashbacks and random crap that deviates from the main story. Anything to cash in on the series' popularity.
Personally, I'm a fan of the new(ish) 13 episode series format, because they have a much shorter ammount of time to tell the story, so it cuts out most flashbacks and hour-long pre-battle "charge up" sequences. Which is just fine by me.
Then again, if you are really opposed to the surreality of anime, I fear that many of the best series will be lost on you.
Some of my favorites are: Evangelion, Excel Saga, Gantz, Ergo Proxy, and Mezzo is pretty good too.
Based on what you've said so far, you might try Ergo Proxy and Mezzo out and see what you think. Mezzo is a finished 13 ep series, and Ergo proxy has the first 8 episodes out in english so far.
I had the same thoughts as you regarding anime till I watched a series called Haibane Renmei. The story told is amazing, it tells it at a really great pace, full of drama as well as humor, and the animation is FRICKIN' GORGEOUS. It's all done in this watercolorish style with crisp, clean pencils..
Also, I just loved the characters, they were all very intriguing and well-developed, and when one of them died over the course of the show, I actually welled up a bit..
Don't know if it's on YouTube, but if you happen to come across it, it's AWESOME.
-CM
I've only seen three. Spirited Away, which you already admitted to finding too weird. Princess Mononoke, might be less weird, but hard to say when there's gods and magic in play. Last was Kiki's Delivery Service, definitely not weird, but it comes at the cost of being aimed at younger (female) audiences - Still a nice story though.
I'm going to echo a lot of what Verfall and Zippo said. I'd also recommend "Perfect Blue" and "Serial Experiments Lain", "Armitage the III", "Noir". I really enjoyed Cowboy Bebop too but it's been mentioned, though I will say that the series is WAY better than the movie.
In general, Spud, one thing that I have always stated in defense of anime is that there is anime material created for multiple age groups, tastes, lifestyles, etc. Whereas the American market (not speaking for the Canadian market as I am not Canadian) of animated work has traditionally been considered to be roughly 3 - 12 in age range (those numbers are arbitrary but its a good range for the purpose of my point). The age range is as much "cultural" as it is "market research" and other factors. For the longest time, the biggest sources of animation were coming our of Disney and Warner Brother's and were being geared toward kids. There are obvious exceptions to this rule and I think this is slowly changing but still for a good chunk of well beyond my 31 years this has been the case. It is the same as the general perceptions about "who reads comic books" that has gradually changed over the years and is changing still today.
Having said all that, certain Anime still gets pushed more toward younger audiences and audiences in general due to "established market factors". Your "Pokemon" and your "Inuyasha" and your "Naruto" definitely fall into this catergory. The "Gundam" series is too for the most part.
And as you said, you may just not be the target audience. I have a few friends who are in the same boat.
www.anidb.com (http://www.anidb.com)
Check that site out for any info on any anime you may be interested in watching. And I might also suggest a few, myself. Cowboy Bebop, which was already mentioned hundreds of times... Um, there was also FullMetal Alchemist. That runs about 51 episodes, but its worth to watch every one. Trigun was really good and humerous. Great ending, too. FLCL is supposed to be really good, but its only an OVA, which is about six episodes. Hellsing was another good one, sorta weird, but good.
And... Yeah. =p
Hope you find the anime that calls out to you, Spud. 'Cause nobody can live without anime. Just not Naruto and crap...
FORIAMSPAM!
without going into huge details of why I love anime :P
naruto in short:
if you're going to watch, for the love of jeebus watch the japanese with subtitles, if I hear one more kid scream believe it i'm gonna start breaking things >_<
and... naruto IS etremely dragged out, and it's full of fillers which have nothing to do with the show.
why? because some how, the anime takes less time to make than the manga, and so they make it take longer so the manga has a chance to get ahead, then when they cant stretch it any further and they've run out of story, they give you weeks of absolute irrelivant garbage till the manga gets ahead again.
Bleach is made by the same company who made naruto and also suffers from the prolonged dragging out and occasional filler, tho nowhere near the standard of naruto, and atleast their whole filler arc was good.
anyway, insomnia, coming upto 5am... must return to sleep
I actually watched, and have, a 2004 series called Area88. It's a 12 episode series based off a manga and an OVA from the 80's. It's about a group of pilots in the middle east who have been forced in various ways to sign contracts worth a million+ to fight in a mercanary air force. They rack up money per kill and have to spend that on their planes, ammo and basic living expenses, with the rest going towards paying off their contract so they can leave. Fantastic anime for a plane nut like me, and it's only 12 episodes long so you know it actually ends. It has a main plot involving the main character, a photographer and a love triangle that actually works with the action of the movie. There is also one epsiode involving a sniper that is easily one of the best pieces of storytelling I've ever seen in an anime.
On a different note, never EVER watch an anime in english. Dubs are disgusting. If it's not subbed, it's not worth watching.
Naruto sucks. Bigtime. Its soooo overrated it isn't even funny. The manga is sometimes slow paced, but is a LOT better than the anime - Naruto himself isn't even nearly half as irritating in the manga, for one thing.
I'd recommend the aforementioned Cowboy Bebop, and also The Big O if you can find the first season anywhere. The Big O is a darn good series, but you pretty much need to see a good chunk of the first season before watching ANY of the second, or you'll be going `WTF?!' big time. The series ender is also a bit weird, but doesn't really distract from the rest of the series that much.
Bebop and Big O have a lot of the same voice cast; Steven J. Blum\David Lucas (he's used both names as a voice actor) does the voices of the male leads in both series, and Wendee Lee who does the voice of Faye Valentine does the voice of a recurring character named Angel in Big O, for instance.
What I'd suggest is going to a bookstore or looking online to find some translated manga books, browse and find if there's anything you like, and see if its been made into an anime. If you have a Borders or Waldenbooks nearby, take a look there.
If you like harem comedies (one guy with a bunch of girls around), I'd suggest Love Hina or Negima as good manga series. Love Hina had a bit too much fan service, but was still a good series. I've seen several subbed episodes of the Love Hina anime and it was well done, but you do have to read the manga for the real end of the series.
Anime recommendations:
The Big O
Cowboy Bebop
Martian Successor Nadesico
Tenchi Muyo
Tri-Gun
Both Vampire Hunter D movies (Vampire Hunter D and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust)
Robot Carnival (Its a movie made up of various short stories)
With Tenchi Muyo, look for the first set of OVAs, since they're the start (and have really kick butt opening and ending themes if you get the dubbed version), and avoid Tenchi In Tokyo like the plague, as Tenchi In Tokyo is downright boring for the majority of the episodes. I highly recommend the dubbed, as the voice acting is top notch.
Interesting bit of anime trivia: Johnny Yong Bosch does the voices of the male leads in Bleach and Tri-Gun (and maybe some other stuff, but that's all I've watched with him in it that I can think of). He used to be a live action actor; he played Adam, the second Black Ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and was also on Power Rangers Zeo and Turbo. He's a darn good VA.
Oh, and frankly I didn't like Akira either. It did have some groundbreaking animation for its time, but that was about it.
And Verfall is an anime purist, I guess. I prefer dubbed over subbed myself, if the voice cast is good. I'll watch dubbed or subbed but generally prefer dubbed as if I have to get up to do something I don't have to rewind to go back and read what I missed, dialog wise.
One series I want to check out and will be getting subbed if I ever do? Excel Saga. Because I've seen previews of the dubbed version and the lead character's voice is extremely irritating.
the anime shows i like is
gundams series
naruto
rouroni kenshin
cowboy bebop
bleach
vampire hunter d(of course)
Quote from: Verfall on April 10, 2007, 08:54:34 PM
On a different note, never EVER watch an anime in english. Dubs are disgusting. If it's not subbed, it's not worth watching.
On the contrairy, IMO FLCL had amazing english voice acting. I'd recommend it aswell Spud, its got great art and music. Only thing is, it's just about the most insane thing ever.
Certain companies do a much better job of dubbing than others.
I have an intense dislike of FLCL. I can understand why some people might like it, but I'm convinced that show causes brain damage. I watched 2 episodes of it, and that was 3 episodes too many. (No, that's not an error)
I picked up the Jan\Feb issue of Protoculture Addicts at Waldenbooks yesterday - no idea why they still have it but don't have the March\April issue yet - and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suziyama is getting released in North America in May. I'm going to check it out because is has two of my absolute favorte voice actors in it - Wendee Lee as the lead character, and Crispin Freeman as Kyon. Wendee Lee is easily my favorite female voice actress (well, actually tied with the voice actress who does Major Kusanagi in the Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex series, but I can't think of her name at the moment), and Crispin Freeman is just downright awesome. (He REALLY rocked as Albedo in the Xenosaga games)
Anyone know if Coyote Ragtime Show is any good?
(I've got quite a bit of reading to do - besides the issue of PA, I also picked up Negima vol 13, and got the latest Shonen Jump and a couple of mainstream comics from my subscription box at the comics shop, and all I've had time to read are the two comics and a couple of articles in PA)
I think we're getting a little off-track here... I was trying to start a flame war.
:angry:
Quote from: captainspud on April 11, 2007, 01:07:08 AM
I think we're getting a little off-track here... I was trying to start a flame war.
:angry:
You suck at life. -1 level\overness\whatever
DBZ,Kenshin/samuraiX,Naruto or any of those 'burning youth' fighting series are always inferior to the original book...Rushed and stretched to last tons of episodes...
That's the shame of the japanese animation and sadly the most famous part.
Cowboy Bebop,Samurai champloo or Wolf's rain are way more elaborate on any point.(By the way the targeted audiance is older)
I'm a standard japanime fan, but American animation is not inferior to japanese one.
It only a matter of effort,budget and time.I'm still amazed by the care of some old batman Tas episodes.(Speaking of framerate!)
The fact is animation (and mangas) are one of the spearhead of Japan.
They're really productive...and like any country they can create masterpiece or commercial botched bull*hit.
I must add...that some japanese series suffered a lot when they were translated and dubbed in american...
Plot...dialogs are often modified, simplified and filled with 'Fu*in' ubercool gimmick sentences'.
So captain if you really want to give japanime a chance, you should try something better
As an exemple you can't summarize all american cartoons to nickelodeon's stuff.
(Oops^^ wrong exemple^^ I love SpongeBob SquarePants)
Try Satoshi Kon ,Mamoru Oshii,Katsuhiro otomo,Koji Morimoto,or Hayao Miyazaki work
Quote from: GhostMachine on April 11, 2007, 01:03:12 AM
Wendee Lee is easily my favorite female voice actress (well, actually tied with the voice actress who does Major Kusanagi in the Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex series, but I can't think of her name at the moment),
her name is Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.
Mimi Woods did the English dub in the first movie.
Mate, you really have to be a bit picky with anime to enjoy it.
Aim for the good stuff, ignore the trash that's aimed at selling toys.
Great TV series I can guarantee you'll enjoy: Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, Gantz, Neon Genesis Evagelion, Slayers, Paranoia Agent, Giant Robo.
Great anime films if you liked Akira: Castle of Cogliostro, Ninja Scroll, Ghost In The Shell, Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, anything by Miyazaki (just watch them on rainy weekend, with a beer).
You'll find a lot of the series/films I mentioned are by the same directors.
Guess I'm the only one that liked DBZ. But I had seen most of it subbed 10 years before most episodes made it to the states. The original voices were much better. I was also a bigger fan of the movies and anything Brolly related.
So, does Robotech and Starblazers make it on the list of acceptable anime? Starblazers may have been before "traditional anime" but it was surely an inspiration to me growing up. And Robotech was cool because it was 70% drama, 30% action. And everybody died on that show. Which was a new concept from what was out there in the world of cartoons.
Loved Akira. Wish I had takin an hallucinogen to really have been tripped out. As it was, I thought they captured that high pretty well.
Supernatural Beast City was another I liked. Guy had a big Gun. Spiderchick had webs coming from.... well, can't really say.
Legend of the Overfiend. Hmm.... wife was pretty put off by this movie. It's got some naughty scenes in it. But, if you like tentacles, this was the movie for you.
Fist of the Northstar. Ok, I'm a big fan of the fast fight scenes. This one had them and more. From the hundred hand punch to Shin's slicing attack, this had fighting. Just stay away from the live action version.
Liked the 1st Vampire Hunter D. The Undertaker never looked so good.
Guyver and Giant Robo were both good. Was Giant Robo a manga before it was Johnny Socko and his Flying Robot?
Robot Carnival was supposed to be the japanese version of Heavy Metal. Not the same impact, but was fun to watch.
I agree on the Trigun, Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Samurai Champloo, Full Metal Alchemist assessments. These are very good series. Was Perfect Blue the one with the insects? I liked that one too.
perfect blue was the one about the thing and the person that wanted to be that thingie who was doing that other thing.
(post made now non-sense'a-tized for volsung's pleasure :P)
I think I can pretty much say I have access to what has to be one of the largest anime collections in england, belonging to my brother, i'll have to take pics later to prove i'm not exagerating, lol
Bunny I suggest you replace your first sentence with something else than MASSIVE SPOILERS! :P
So, anyone know what the title was for the giant insects cartoon? They had an armed force fighting these bugs.
I second Robotech, and there's even a new movie that just came out that continues the series. I'm also quite found of the books series connected with it.
I'd hafta agree with whats been said alot too.... Bebop, Champloo, Wolfs Rain all were great watches to me. I liked Trigun too, but not as much. I'd always recommend anything Lupin related, movies and tv show for humour.
Though I do hafta ask.....am I the only one who liked Eureka 7?
Also one of my favorite animes, with a catchy song too boot!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQSWEz8uvco (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQSWEz8uvco)
Ughhhh........man, my soul hurts....anyroad, Spud, I feel the same way about most of what you said, except that I wouldn't be nearly so generous. What bothers me just about more than anything else, and in such a profound way that there is no real logical explination for it, are the anime troupes that so many of them have. You know, big mouths, giant 'sweat drop' when worried, distorted figures to emphasis emotions.....basically the DBZ influence (seen prominently in that bastion of wasted potential that is Teen Titans). I think what bothers me is that it's just ridiculous. If you're trying to tell a serious story, that stuff detracts from it...if you're not...well...it still bugs the tar out of me.
Anyroad, let what I've said be tempered by my adding my voice to the chorous singing Cowboy Beebop's praises. It has the occasional off episode, but in general, it was fantastic. I am actually rather surprised to hear all of you approve so strongly of Samuari Champloo. It had a strong first episode, and it went downhill DRASTICALLY from there....I mean, TALK about wasted potential!
I also was weirded out by Akira, there were some cool parts, the animation was pretty great, but for the most part it wasn't a story worth telling...and the ending made me want to smash my head through the screen.
The Japanese are a VERY strange people...
I have seen an episode of a show called....Lodoss War, or something like that, it was pretty cool, and if you like traditional fantasy, you might like that. However, I haven't seen all of it, so I can't speak for how it continues from there.
I don't know, I suppose I feel the same way Spud does, many anime's have interesting stories, the occasional good action, cool characters....but somehow, despite all of that, they still make terrible shows. I remember watching Robotech back in the day...at least, I think that's what it was, and REALLY wanting to like it, because it was such a cool premise, but being generally disappointed with it despite that.
Ohh, and just for the heck of it, Nartuo makes my soul hurt.
I admit, Anime isn't for everyone, but try not to judge it by all the mass market imports.
Quote from: Flying_Infant on April 11, 2007, 05:26:33 PMThough I do hafta ask.....am I the only one who liked Eureka 7?
I'm following it. It's far from my favorite anime (the two leads tend to occasionally get on my nerves, a little too much whining), but despite that, I have been enjoying the story and the world and even the art style.
Gotta agree with most of the series listed here already. The team that did Bebop tends to do stuff that's moving away from the "big eyes small mouth" style like Witch Hunter Robin and Wolf's Rain and Samurai Champloo. Trigun and Full Metal Alchemist.. both were very enjoyable series (though I prefer both in the original Japanese) with some great payoffs storyline wise. Big O... I loved the first season, the second season though was very rocky and the plot was all over the place and even the animation went down a notch. And Excel Saga... you have to hear it in the original Japanese to truly appreciate the motor mouth on Excel (supposedly the English voice actress damaged her throat trying to keep up) That series makes fun of everything from typical anime cliches to Chuck Norris movies. Not the least bit deep, but very funny none the less. (Speaking of animes that make fun of stuff, "Shinesmen" is another great goofy one, and I actually have to recommend the dub on this one, surprisingly good)
"Castle of Cagliostro" holds a special place in my heart since I saw it after a group of us snuck into a classroom in the Englishg building in the dead of night just so we could use a VCR (long story, but it did add to the whole "Lupin-esque" factor) and it was also the first anime I bought (the second being the first Sol Bianca movie)
My friend has a theory that that bombs we dropped on Japan, their radiation has cuased their general weirdness. He may not be that far off.
Stephen Spielberg has stated a few times that "Castle of Cagliostro" is one of his favorite movies!
I like Samurai Champloo, but I have to agree with Benton; it did go downhill after the first episode. Still a good series, though.
Legend of The Overfiend, which thanoson mentioned, is hentai. (ie, anime porn) I've never seen it, and after all the things I've read about it, I never will.
Supernatural Beast City, aka Wicked City, is also technically hentai, but nowhere near as bad as Overfiend, and actually has a decent plot. They apparently made a live action version of it in Hong Kong.
I tend to avoid anything that's hentai and anything that has Sherry Lynn doing the voice of a main character in the dubbed version. Mainly because she's done the same exact voice in everything I've heard her in (including video games; she was MOMO in Xenosaga I (and was fortunately replaced in the other two games) and Pepita in Star Ocean 3), and I'm sick of hearing it. I love her as Sasami in Tenchi Muyo, however. (I've heard she can do other voices; I've just never heard them, other than the voice of one of the Tachikomas in Ghost in the Shell:Standalone Complex)
Forgot to mention another voice actor I really like: Scott McNeil. He's done voices in mainstream cartoons as well as anime.
I have a really cool Mp3 of a promo he did for some anime website or podcast or something where he does about 10 different voices in a minute. Haven't listened to it for a while, but he does Wolverine (from X-Men Evolution), Rattrap and Dinobot (from Transformers Beast Wars - he was also Silverbolt and Waspinator!), Piccolo and a few others. He's probably best known for doing Duo Maxwell in Gundam Wing and Koga in Inuyasha, but he was also Hohenheim in Fullmetal Alchemist.
yeah that voise actor scott mcneil is one of the coolest voice actor yet
I'll pretty much add whats been said... anime isn't for every one... and because of the diverse range of whats been made over the years.. it's really unfair to make 'blanket statements' about a lot of it. Most would say its best to watch sub-titled versions... but ehhh... I prefer 'good' voice acted dubs! But thats just me.
Some of my favs that i would recommend are
SERIES:
Hellsing
Full Metal Panic
Cowboy Bebop
Big O
Blue Seed
Guyver
FEATURES:
Vampire Hunter D 1 &2
Fist of the Northstar
Wicked City
Ninja Scroll
Ghost in the Shell
Crying Freeman
And a couple of really old school classics:
Star Blazers
Speed Racer
i must admit i have a real detest for anime, mainly because of what it did to art and comics, growing up everyone was so into anime and drawing in the style where as i was still reading stuff like spider-man, batman etc wondering what the hell the appeal was.
i really hate anime fan art and the prazie it gets even when its not well done, now in contrats when it is drawn well it can be extremley good, but it just seemed to be bloody every where. i dont know maybe its me but there something extremley distrubing about drawing a woman in her 20s dressed and acting a small child
i have watched and enjoyed 2 animes in my enitre life and i know that soon as i say it the lynch mob will be at door, and i enjoyed these cause i they came from other interests.
street fighter the animated movie and the street fighter V series
Evil,It proves that you should give japanimation a chance.
You musn't generalise.They target different kind of public.
Japanimation is just a media like movies or book.
'20Th century boys' or 'Monster' from Naoki Urasawa, recently adapted in anime got no link with stupid or gore series.
ok, here's a quick photo highlight of my brothers collection....
first thing you're greeted by as you go in the door
[spoiler]
(http://pro52.msshost.com/~unfluffy/images/thelibrary/indoor.jpg)
(the cabinet on the right is also full, and there's more in a position my camera couldnt reach)
[/spoiler]
next would be the bookshelf but the pics didnt come out very good....
a small section of floor:
[spoiler]
(http://pro52.msshost.com/~unfluffy/images/thelibrary/floor.jpg)
manga magazines, some manga books, and some torn packaging from a delivery that arrived typically.. this morning
[/spoiler]
the actual viewing area:
[spoiler]
(http://pro52.msshost.com/~unfluffy/images/thelibrary/tv.jpg)
mainly books and some vhs
[/spoiler]
this is actually just a highlight, I didnt wanna flog the thread down with pics @_@ there's so much more it's not even funny, (you may have noticed there's a large area behind the tv and such)
so as a final pic, the walls (my panoram-fu is weak, ignore the obvious breaks :P )
[spoiler]
(http://pro52.msshost.com/~unfluffy/images/thelibrary/panorama.JPG)
[/spoiler]
Thats very cool ... must be hell on his love life, though.
I feel faintly guilty when someone sees my Family Guy DVDs lying around.
Quote from: Jakew on April 12, 2007, 04:58:23 PM
Thats very cool ... must be hell on his love life, though.
I feel faintly guilty when someone sees my Family Guy DVDs lying around.
My girlfriend thinks my anime/manga collection is sexy. :P
I'm not so much a fan of anime as I am someone who grew up with a lot of it on TV... growing up in the Philippines during the 1980s and early 1990s, shows like Voltes V (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltes_V), Daimos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimos), Yu Yu Hakusho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Yu_Hakusho), among others were pretty much part of the TV milieu, so I'm missing out on some of the apparent misgivings people have that are allegedly unique to anime as a genre.
To me, bad anime (like most of the imported mass market stuff shown in North America) suffers from the same faults as bad animation from any other country or region: derivative and unimaginative character designs, plodding plots, horrible dialogue. I find it a little strange that some people could so easily dismiss "anime" out of hand, as if all animation from a particular area are bereft of any diversity in style and theme. I think what's turning a lot of people off of foreign animation and comics (not just the Japanese/Asian stuff but those coming out of Europe as well) is that too often, viewers and readers make blanket assessments over exposure to a limited sample of the material. Usually, the stuff that makes it across the Pacific (and the Atlantic) is the material that is most easily marketed, so it should be no surprise that they're fairly unsophisticated, lowest common denominator type fluff.
I was an anime hater, until my younger son Jake (age 12) made me sit & watch Full Metal Alchemist. Great story, with humor, heart, and a neat plot. I highly recommend it!
Quote from: zuludelta on April 13, 2007, 11:17:41 PM
I'm not so much a fan of anime as I am someone who grew up with a lot of it on TV... growing up in the Philippines during the 1980s and early 1990s,
Same here. In Mexico lots of channels simply showed whatever show was the cheapest, and it was cheaper to buy cartoons from Japan than from the US. I grew up with some really out there stuff, most of which I have never heard of again. I actually went to the movie theater to watch Mazinger and Saint Seya movies, that's how big they where back home. Also we had Candy Candy, Capitan Centella (Gekko Kamen), Macross, Battle of the Planets (G force)...
For recent stuff I've enjoyed a lot of what I've seen on adult swim like FLCL, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebbop, etc. There's good anime out there, but there is a LOT of really derivative junk too. And I really cant stand "combat" anime, you know... 20 episodes to watch some generic "ryu" style hero who is the best fighter for some reason fight the same guy.
Quote from: lugaru on April 15, 2007, 05:57:49 PMAlso we had Candy Candy, Capitan Centella (Gekko Kamen), Macross, Battle of the Planets (G force)...
Oh boy, I remember Candy Candy. I never really watched it but it sort of stands out in my head because it was one of the first anime shows I saw that was distinctly geared towards a female audience (prior to that, all I'd seen was either battle or giant robot anime). I also remember quite a number of anime shows based on literary properties... I remember watching "A Dog of Flanders" (based on the 19th century novel of the same name by Maria Lousie De La Ramee), "The Trapp Family Singers" (based on the 1949 book by Maria Von Trapp and definitely inspired by
The Sound of Music), and "Cedie, Ang Munting Prinsipe (a.k.a. "Little Prince Cedie"... based on the 19th century serial novel
Little Lord Fauntleroy). I think they were all made by the same studio, but I can't really be sure.
the first animes i ever saw was dragona ball z and sailor moon
One thing that confuses people is Gatchaman. The original series has been released under several different dubs, each with a name change amongst other things: Battle of the Planets, G Force, and Eagle Riders. Battle of the Planets sucks, because they took out just about all the violence and added that lame robot character in place of those scenes. I believe BOTP even changed which character was really an android!
For anyone who follows the various Dragonball animes but not the manga, GT is NOT canon; Toriyama did not create GT and afaik didn't actually have anything to do with it. The end of DBZ is the actual end of the series.
Anyone who wants to get into anime without committing to any series or watching kiddy stuff, I recommend the following movies, because they're stand alone - no series to go along with them:
1. Robot Carnival (older movie made up of several short stories by different creators)
2. Roujin-Z (I'm not even going to try and explain it, but its a great movie)
3. Vampire Hunter D
4. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (sequel made long after the original)
5. Wicked City, aka Supernatural Beast City (note: NOT for kids! You can pretty much let them watch the others I've recommended (the Vampire Hunter D movies do have some gore, but not extreme amounts of it, so those are iffy - I'd let a teen watch, but not a little kid), but this one is a no-no)
Akira is highly overrated, so I'd say skip it for your introduction to the genre; It did have groundbreaking animation for its time, but that's about it. Grave of the Fireflies is supposed to be pretty good, but I've never actually seen it.
Robot Carnival is a definite must see, though. Like someone else said, its sort of a Japanese version of Heavy Metal, but not quite.....
grave of the fireflies
spirited away
princess mononoke
metropolis
and the one i can never quite remember, its mid-80's about a girl with a cool glider and these giant tomato bug insects
thats the list of best anime. hands-down
oh and the animatrix short film about the ghost house.
Quote from: detourne_me on April 16, 2007, 08:25:47 AM
grave of the fireflies
spirited away
princess mononoke
metropolis
and the one i can never quite remember, its mid-80's about a girl with a cool glider and these giant tomato bug insects
thats the list of best anime. hands-down
oh and the animatrix short film about the ghost house.
I think you mean 'Kaze no tani no Nausicaa' (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind) which is a great movie indeed. I agree with those others you mentioned except for Metropolis, that one didn't get to me. Overall I like anime, mostly depending on what kind of mood I'm in. I've seen alot of anime over the years and the few I can remember that were nice are:
Gungrave
Gun X Sword
Black Lagoon (definitely one of the coolest I've seen)
Full Metal Alchemist
Trigun
And one that I can't stand but which seems to have a big supporter group: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya... I mean seriously...
Quote from: Toxic_J on April 16, 2007, 09:15:47 AM
And one that I can't stand but which seems to have a big supporter group: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya... I mean seriously...
Well, get prepared to deal with people talking about it a lot more, because Haruhi is coming out dubbed this month or next, with Wendee Lee doing the voice of the title character and Crispin Freeman doing the voice of Kyon.
I haven't seen it yet, myself.
I vaguely remember some random movie I caught on Sci Fi Channel when they would show an anime movie every Saturday, they didn't do it very long though (of course nothing on that channel much lasts long really) maybe six months to a year total I believe.
It had some guy in a white power ranger esque suit battling cyborgs n such. Not sure if I would enjoy it now but I thought it was very cool back then.
I also remember something called Demon City Shinjuko or something, pretty sure that one sucked though.
Quote from: GrizzlyBearTalon on April 16, 2007, 03:31:47 PM
I vaguely remember some random movie I caught on Sci Fi Channel when they would show an anime movie every Saturday, they didn't do it very long though (of course nothing on that channel much lasts long really) maybe six months to a year total I believe.
It had some guy in a white power ranger esque suit battling cyborgs n such. Not sure if I would enjoy it now but I thought it was very cool back then.
Casshan Robot Hunter.
It was an old anime that got a modern treatment, which is the one you saw. There's also a live action move though I haven't seen it (though I think I went to the website at somepoint)
[EDIT] The live action movie is "Casshern" and is the actual title of the series. "Casshan" seems to be a mistranslation according to what I just read, but it's Wikkipedia, so take that as you will.
Sci-Fi had a very mixed bag of stuff. Some was good (Iria was probably my favorite of that run) and some was just poor ("Fatal Fury" - you can believe a movie about fighting can be dull) That was also where I saw "Roujin-Z ". GhostMachine's right, it's hard to describe, but it was pretty cool. The robot nurse (not what you're thinking, trust me) and the senior squad... that was pretty fun.
BTW: I have a copy of Robot Carnival on Video (need to transfer to DVD) Love that one. The Steam-powered giant mecha was a riot, Frankengears was cool animation and a bit of dark humor at the end, and Nightmare... man I loved Nightmare. :D
RE: Toxic J.
Yess! thank you!
i always remember it has something to do with wind or wings and people think im talking about wings of hommenaise.
but yeah Nausicaa of the valley of the winds is one of the animations that had a profound effect on me as a kid.
Quote from: detourne_me on April 16, 2007, 08:25:47 AM
grave of the fireflies
spirited away
princess mononoke
metropolis
and the one i can never quite remember, its mid-80's about a girl with a cool glider and these giant tomato bug insects
thats the list of best anime. hands-down
oh and the animatrix short film about the ghost house.
i've seen grave of fireflies its pretty sad, spirited away is cool, and princess monoke is good also.
nenver heard of metropolis
Metropolis....you thought METROPOLIS was good? Nay, best? Good heavens man....I...I just don't know what to say.....
who are u replying to detourne?
Yes Raijin, sorry for the confusion, I was just...so stunned...
why is metropolis really that bad?
Well...I mean, obviously DM found something to like, but my friend and I who watched it found it utterly terrible.
I've seen the live action version of Casshern. The Sci-Fi Channel actually aired it once. It was quite good, but not as good as the anime.
I loved Metropolis^^ And that's such a coincidence,I watched it again last week.
Quote from: BentonGrey on April 16, 2007, 09:32:47 PM
Well...I mean, obviously DM found something to like, but my friend and I who watched it found it utterly terrible.
Agreed, but as with everything else people have different tastes.
So Raijin, to really know if you like Metropolis, you're going to have to see it. ;)
I would suggest seeing the Fritz Lang silent film of the same name, still one of the greatest of all cinema masterpieces.
I also liked metropolis, gonna list some anime i'd consider "classics"
Beserk (Griffith ftw! :P)
Guyver (my guyver collection is the original 12 vhs set)
Akira
city hunter
escaflowne
cowboy bebop (radical edwards rules :P)
fist of the north star (series... NOT the movie ¬_¬)
lupin the third
ninja scroll (very first anime I ever saw)
monster city
devil man
Gundam Seed
vampire hunter D
hellsing
sky blue
spirited away
ghost in the shell (I reccomended this to someone and laughed for a very long time when he accused it of ripping off the matrix)
full metal panic
getbackers
my mind's gone pretty blank there, but I will add recently i've been enjoying bleach and full metal alchemist, adn the only reason they werent in my list is because (atleast here) they're incomplete
I have a copy of Casshern on dvd. It is visually, quite stunning. The fight scenes are well done and I love the costumes.
Quote from: captainspud on April 11, 2007, 01:07:08 AM
I think we're getting a little off-track here... I was trying to start a flame war.
:angry:
I think you're losing your touch. :blink:
I enjoy mindless big robot anime. The big robots hit each other and it makes me happy.
:)
Quote from: Midnight on April 19, 2007, 06:07:20 AM
Quote from: captainspud on April 11, 2007, 01:07:08 AM
I think we're getting a little off-track here... I was trying to start a flame war.
:angry:
I think you're losing your touch. :blink:
I enjoy mindless big robot anime. The big robots hit each other and it makes me happy.
:)
I feel the same way about Kaiju (Giant Monsters)!
GO GO GODZILLA!!!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v668/GrizzlyBearTalon/Godzilla/gspiral.jpg)
kaiju and the only ones who can face them!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6GYcr3ad4M
I love this extreme uncontrollable (and uncontrolled^^) violence
(But Midnight probably talked about Mazinger or Getter's crew.)
I'm ols school when it comes to anime. Most of my collection is on VHS tapes, but here are the stuff I like:
Zillion
Zillion: Burning Knight
Cat Girl nuku nuku
apple seed
Street fighter the movie
Street fighter: the series
Ranma 1/2 ova
Robotech
Battle of the planets (G-Force)
Blood the last Vampire
Vampire hunter D
Angel Cop
Ninja Scroll
Ghost in the shell
Arkira
and that's all I can think of right now......
Ahh..... Godzilla vs Destroyah. Now, did Godzilla survive that, or was that his kid in the end of the movie?
Quote from: thanoson on April 19, 2007, 03:11:00 PM
Ahh..... Godzilla vs Destroyah. Now, did Godzilla survive that, or was that his kid in the end of the movie?
The answer you seek lies below... MASSIVE SPOILERS! :lol:
[spoiler]Big G bites the big one in a huge meltdown after taking out Destroyah (with a nice assist to stop Destroyah's escape courtesy of G-Force). Godzilla then begins to meltdown but is bombarded with ice bombs to prevent his melt down from taking out the Earth, the theory was that if he melted down it would be such a massive one that his remains would eat their way to the center of the Earth and destroy the planet. The freezing bombs seem to work but the massive radiation means much of the area (all of Tokyo basically) is now permanently uninhabitable.
Or is it? See, the reason Big G even bothered to go after Destroyah was that he attacked Little G (SON OF ZILLA!) and apparently killed him. In a rage Godzilla slays Destroyah just before his big melt down. Anyways suddenly the radiation levels go back to normal and a roar is heard. Little G is alive, he rises up and we see him in a new adult form very near identical to his Father. Godzilla as he died gave up his remaining energy and life essence to his progeny reviving and empowering him.
Coincidentally Destroyah was created by the Oxygen Destroyer that slew the original Godzilla in the first film.[/spoiler]
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v668/GrizzlyBearTalon/Godzilla/MOVIE3.gif)
Ok, so is it Little G or Big G in Final Wars?
Quote from: JeyNyce on April 19, 2007, 08:33:11 AM
I'm ols school when it comes to anime. Most of my collection is on VHS tapes, but here are the stuff I like:
Zillion
Zillion: Burning Knight
Cat Girl nuku nuku
apple seed
Street fighter the movie
Street fighter: the series
Ranma 1/2 ova
Robotech
Battle of the planets (G-Force)
Blood the last Vampire
Vampire hunter D
Angel Cop
Ninja Scroll
Ghost in the shell
Arkira
and that's all I can think of right now......
I cant believe I forgot about appleseed @_@
(GAH!!! forgot about robotech too!!! shoot me!!!)
Quote from: thanoson on April 21, 2007, 02:07:56 AM
Ok, so is it Little G or Big G in Final Wars?
Godzilla continuity is all screwed up. The movies following Godzilla vs. Destroyah all take place in alternate universes from each other, except Godzilla x Mechagodzilla and Tokyo S.O.S. (aka Godzilla x Mothra x Mechagodzilla), which tie in (the latter being a sequel to the former). Final Wars is more or less an updated version of Destroy All Monsters, with Godzilla's son from 60's movies and a few new monsters (Monster X, Kaiser Ghidorah, Zilla (aka the Tri-Star Godzilla!)) in it in addition to classic ones.
I've seen every Godzilla movie except the last two. Mainly because I can't find either for sale here (did find Final Wars for sale once, but didn't have enough money, and the store doesn't stock it anymore), and I'm probably going to end up ordering them online.
Monster X is Gigan or Ghiderah? I know the other is Monster Zero. If you haven't seen it yet, Zilla is dispatched very quickly. Very. There's a scene in the movie where it seems it is Big G doing the stomping. He goes to a japanese town out of revenge.
Monster X is Ghidorah, some say he is actually a chrysalis for Kaizer Ghidorah in Final Wars. Making them in a way totally separate monsters possibly.
Quick Godzilla Timeline!
Original Series (1954-1974):
1. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
2. Gigantis, The Fire Monster
(a.k.a. "Godzilla Raids Again")
3. King Kong vs. Godzilla
4. Godzilla vs. the Thing
(a.k.a. Godzilla vs. Mothra)
5. Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster
6. Godzilla vs. Monster Zero
7. Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster
8. Son of Godzilla
9. Destroy All Monsters
10. Godzilla's Revenge
11. Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster
12. Godzilla vs. Gigan
(a.k.a. "Godzilla on Monster Island")
13. Godzilla vs. Megalon
14. Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster
(a.k.a. "Godzilla vs. The Bionic Monster")
(a.k.a. "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla")
15. Terror of Mechagodzilla
"Heisei" Series (1984-1995):
16. Godzilla 1985
17. Godzilla vs. Biollante
18. Godzilla vs. King Ghiodrah
19. Godzilla vs. Mothra
(a.k.a. "Godzilla and Mothra: Battle for Earth")
20. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (II)
21. Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla
22. Godzilla vs. Destroyer
"Alternate Reality" Series (1999 -2001):
23. Godzilla 2000
24. Godzilla vs. Megaguiras
25. GMK: All Monsters Attack
New Generation Series (2002 - ):
26. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (III)
27. Godzilla vs. Mothra vs. Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
28. Godzilla: Final Wars
American "Godzilla" Movie (1998):
* "Godzilla"
The Hensei series is the best in my opinion, though Godzilla Final Wars is really really awesome!
Special Thanks to Barry's Temple of Godzilla (http://www.godzillatemple.com) for the list!
A few more that I liked and hopefully weren't mentioned yet:
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (as if there's someone out there who didn't see this one yet :P)
Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan (incredibly silly but... Ok yes I enjoyed it, I admit it! :lol:)
Wonderful Days
Monster
Millennium Actress (Didn't think I'd like this one but it surprised me as a very touching movie... I... I think I have something in my eye...)
Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa (Castle in the Sky, older movie but really nice)
Last Exile (Another surprise as I didn't figure this as watchable to me but it turned out to have quite a nice story)
Elfenlied (Was a bit different from the rest but I was curious... probably not for a younger audience)
Scrapped Princess
Chrno Crusade (They dragged me into the story and I enjoyed it until they lost me a bit with some lesser episodes near the end, but I think it is still worth seeing)
Trinity Blood
Shakugan no Shana (Not the best I've seen and she got on my nerves alot but worth a try)
Jin-Roh The Wolf Brigade (Not a happy ending, so be warned...)
Gantz (Hmm what to say... Bodyparts flying around, lots of blood and a weird story)
English dub Crayon Shin-Chan FTW! *runs away*
You should probably check out Afro Samurai. It's very short (only 5 episodes), so you know it's got to be to the point, and the english version features Samuel L. Jackson!
First anime I ever saw were the first eight episodes of Ranma: 1/2. I loved the humor, mostly because the utter ridiculousness was delivered with great sincerity and seriousness.